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Seattle police to trace status of missile launcher

SEATTLE (AP) - Seattle police are tracking down the history of a nonfunctional missile launcher that showed up at a Saturday weapons buyback event in Seattle.

Detective Mark Jamieson says a man standing outside the buyback event bought the military weapon for $100 from another person at the event. The item, a single-use device that had already been used, is a launch tube assembly for a Stinger portable surface-to-air missile.

He says detectives will notify the Army Criminal Investigation Command on Monday.

Jamieson says the launcher is a controlled military item and is not available to civilians through any surplus or disposal program offered by the government. He says it is most likely that the launch tube was previously obtained unlawfully from the military, and would likely be returned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

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